What has happened to transparency in government?

Lois Lerner joins Eric Holder in being held in contempt of Congress. The ex-IRS official and the U.S. attorney general have both been charged by congressional investigative committees with obstructing the judicial process.

Lerner won’t testify and won’t talk about the IRS role in illegal targeting and treatment of conservative organizations. Holder won’t cooperate at all concerning the FBI involvement with the Fast and Furious gun running scheme that went horribly awry.

It would be proper and fitting to include Hillary Clinton with these two since she and her State Department dodged, retracted, revised and redacted their way before numerous congressional inquiries. But, to date, she hasn’t been held in contempt of Congress.

How they are “held” is part of what I don’t understand. Holder is contesting his contempt charge in court. I don’t know what Lerner is doing about her charge.

Frankly, I’m not sure why anyone would fight the “conviction” since it seems to result in… nothing. Unless Congress commits to take it to the next level — criminal prosecution — it doesn’t amount to anything more than a footnote on a resume.

I have the same problem understanding impeachment. President Bill Clinton was impeached but it didn’t slow him down, didn’t diminish his power and didn’t reduce his pension. Didn’t even effect the building of his library. Doesn’t seem like a big deal at all.

Yet President Richard Nixon felt compelled to resign before he could be impeached. Then again, Nixon had tape recordings that might have led to criminal proceedings.

We might look back and shake our heads in wonderment as to why anyone could be so stupid to record material they would want no one to hear, evidence that could send them to jail. Yet in today’s digital age, everything’s recorded.

There is a stark difference between Nixon, who threw in the towel when he knew his game had been busted, and our current gutless leaders who refuse, obfuscate and lie to prevent the truth from coming out. Ironically, I give credit to Richard for doing the right thing in the end.

I give no credit to current administration bureaucrats who protect their own interests by stonewalling Congress and withhold information vital to the determination of justice. Their refusal to divulge the truth is a middle finger in the face of all Americans.

It doesn’t matter which side of the aisle you’re on, the escalation of secrecy in our federal government is something that should concern us all. A covert action by the White House or cabinet department heads might be justified (or not), but the documentation after the fact — all of it — must be made available to senior representatives of the people on congressional oversight and investigative committees.

They are our eyes and ears — and the only thing that stands between the rule of law and tyranny. When they ask for information, we are asking. All the emails and all the correspondence should be made available, not necessarily to the American public, but surely to our elected representatives.

Transparency in government continues to be an empty promise — and all Americans suffer for it.